Rescued By Biscuits!

I love biscuits—I’ve never met one I didn’t like. Evidently a lot of other people do too because for the first time in two years McDonald’s same-store sales are up—a lot—5.7% compared to the 4^th quarter last year. McD’s stock has soared too—up 26% in the last year. The critics have been silenced and CEO Steve Easterbrook has been proven correct. I expect he’ll get a big bonus—and he should.

How did it happen? “All-day breakfast!” Like Waffle House or Cracker Barrel, you can go in McD’s and get breakfast any time they are open.

Why did it work? People love biscuits and it brought in new customers. “One-third of the customers who bought breakfast in the afternoon or later” had never been in a McD’s before (WSJ, 1/25/16). Maybe they should change their name to McBiscuit House.

Was it risky? Not the way they did it. They hand-selected a few locations for trial runs of all-day breakfast. If the trial runs failed, little was lost.

Was it costly? No. The investment was minimal. Every McD’s already had all the equipment needed to make biscuits…eggs…pancakes…whatever.

Was training required? No. They were already making biscuits all morning. Plus, making biscuits is not rocket science—no colleg degree required.

All-day breakfast was a genius move. And so simple. Everything they needed—they already had. Wow.

What about your organization? Maybe the answer you are looking for is right in front of your eyes: do more of what you already do well.

It’s about 9:00am. A McD’s biscuit would sure taste good!

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